This weekend’s UFC Fight Night card has gone through a change to it’s main card that will see a highly regarded prospect step in for his Octagon debut. Former TUF finalist Brady Hiestand was set to return in a bantamweight contest with Jake Hadley.
England’s Hadley made the move up to 135-pounds from flyweight after taking a short notice fight with Caolan Loughran at UFC 304 and securing the victory.
However, with Hiestand out of the fight, Cameron Smotherman will now replace him in order to make his UFC debut on just a few days notice. The most noteworthy aspect of this is that Smotherman already had plans for this weekend. Plans that saw him travel to Riyadh.
Following the announcement of the fight, reported by Alex Behunin, Raufeon Stots posted that the 27-year old was set to be in his corner at Battle Of The Giants on Saturday night. The former interim Bellator bantamweight champion will face Marcos Breno on the biggest night in the history of the PFL.
Now he will try to get the win with one less cornerman due to the fact that Smotherman’s gone back to Las Vegas in order to try and capitalize on this opportunity.
Smotherman previously fought for a UFC contract back on last year’s season of Dana White’s Contender Series where he was stopped in the opening round. Following three consecutive wins under the Fury FC banner, he’s back with a point to prove.
Stots posted the following message in response to Behunin’s post about the new fight that will take place at the Apex this weekend.
“i thought i was dreaming last night when he told me here in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. It was like 3:30 am. Lost a corner but Couldn’t be happier for one of my best training partners.”
